The study will provide a conceptual background for future research on the validity and improvement of discretionary judicial decisions in delinquency cases. It will determine the characteristics of juveniles which are legally relevant for making case decisions in three decision areas affecting the mental health of juveniles: temporary detention, transfer for trial in adult criminal court, and formal disposition. Several exploratory methods (statute and case law reviews, interviews with juvenile court personnel, observations of juvenile court hearings in each decision area) will produce initial lists of information cues and personality attributes of juveniles, which juvenile courts have assumed to be relevant for decision-making in the three problem areas. A questionnaire based on these lists will then solicit respondents' perceptions of the relevance of each cue/attribute for decision-making. Respondents include a national sample of juvenile court judges and court attorneys, juvenile defense attorneys and probation officers. All foregoing procedures will involve the participation of three juvenile courts in each of three states. Factor analysis of responses will provide dimensions of cues and attributes assumed by respondents to be relevant. A second questionnaire will allow for weighting of the perceived relative importance of each dimension. Results will be analyzed by subject samples and by types of courts. A review of existing psychological research (e.g., developmental, clinical) will then examine empirical relationships between these cue/attribute dimensions and the concepts (e.g., dangerousness, amenability to treatment) employed in legal standards for detention, transfer, and disposition decisions. This will provide: (1) an initial view of validity of court assumptions about traits or behaviors to weigh in juvenile cases; and (2) recommendations for future work to operationally define and test these relationships.